The Government of Tajikistan has ordered the Ministry of Finance to repay a part of debt of the State Unitary Enterprise (SUE) Tajik railways (Tajik state-run railway company) to the Export-Import Bank of China (China Exim Bank).
By government’s resolution the Ministry of Finance will repay about 286.5 million somonis (equivalent to more than 25 million U.S. dollars) to China Exim Bank.
In the government’s resolution, these funds are mentioned as “interest and accrued penalties” on an overdue loan attracted in 2015 for construction of a rail link connecting Vahdat and Yovon.
Tajik Railways undertakes to return this money to the Ministry of Finance within five years.
It is noted that This measure is taken in the framework of state financial support for Tajik state-run railway company.
Recall, construction of the Vahdat-Yovon-Bokhtar (formerly Qurghon Teppa) railway began in 2009 ad it was introduced into operation in 2016.
The Vahdat-Yovon railway construction project included construction of three tunnels with total length of more than 3.7 kilometers and five bridges with total length of 712 meters.
The Vahdat-Yovon railway that is 40.7 kilometers in length was built in two stages. The first phase of the project included construction of a railway from the railway station Ilyak in the Vahdat district to the railway station Gambuloq in the Roudaki district. The second phase included construction of a railway from the Gambuloq station to the railway station Yovon-2 that connects the railways Dushanbe-Vahdat and Yovon-Bokhtar.
China Exim Bank has reportedly provided a US$68 million loan for implementation of this project.
